


Deep in the Woods

by sweetcarolanne



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adopted Children, Cryptozoology, F/F, F/M, Forests, Found Family, Friendly Monster & Orphan Children It's Protecting, Gen, Humans are the Real Monsters, Matriarchy, Monsters, Protectiveness, Sasquatch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26833669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: Deep in the woods, orphans Carly and Ben are protected by their adoptive Sasquatch mothers and sister, and the mysterious Big Man who watches from somewhere out there in the forest.But when humans searching for Bigfoot invade their woodland home, little Carly feels that she's the one who has to protect her new family...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: Canon Ball 2020





	Deep in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flipflop_diva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/gifts).



> Dear recipient, I hope you like the story I've come up with! It was fun to write! <3
> 
> Many thanks to my anonymous beta.

“Ben, look at you! You’re all dirty! See, Gray Mama? He’s fallen in the mud and got all dirty!”

Carly looked over at Gray Mama and wrinkled her nose; Gray Mama tilted her huge, furry head and wrinkled her own ape-like nose back at Carly. She made a soft humming sound, and her dark eyes seemed to twinkle beneath her fringe of black hair flecked with silver, which meant she had forgiven little Ben for making such a mess.

Chattering softly in her own unintelligible tongue, Gray Mama peeled off Ben’s deerskin cloak and loincloth, and started dipping him in the nearby creek. The three-year-old squealed as the flowing water touched his bare skin, but soon he was laughing and splashing in the shallows with Gray Mama’s hands holding him in place to keep him safe while he played. 

Gray Mama may have been a massive, muscle-bound creature of eight feet in height, but she was the gentlest person Carly and Ben had ever met. Far kinder than Carly and Ben’s real mother and father had ever been. And she had come to protect them from the bad men with guns who had killed Carly and Ben’s parents, and had tried to kill the children too.

She had made sure that the bad men would never hurt anyone again, but Carly never wanted to go back outside the forest, not ever, for there might be more bad men with guns out there. In their new home, deep in the woods, Carly and Ben were safe with their new family.

Carly sat on the bank, dangling her feet in the water, while Gray Mama’s daughter Green Eyes sat next to her and started smoothing out the tangles in Carly’s long white-blonde hair. Green Eyes was about seven years old, the same age as Carly, but she was taller and broader and the thick fur all over her body was glossy black. 

“That’s nice,” Carly said, turning her head to smile at Green Eyes, who smiled back at her with gleaming white teeth. Gray Mama had a nice smile too, but her teeth were a bit yellow and one of the front ones was broken in half. “Now my hair will be all clean and pretty, just like yours.”

The skin on Green Eyes’ deft little hands and on her face was leathery like a monkey’s, but she was definitely not a monkey. Carly didn’t know the real name for what Green Eyes and her mother were, so she simply called them “friendly monsters.” Even though Carly didn’t know the language that they spoke, it was always easy to understand what they meant. Their eyes were so expressive, and the gestures that they made with their hands were just like those made by humans – “come here,” “go to sleep,” “stop that,” and “I love you.”

A loud whistle sounded from further upstream, and Gray Mama looked up from what she was doing and whistled back.

Carly tried to whistle too, but she couldn’t make the same piercing sound with her tiny mouth.

“Red Mama’s home,” Carly told Green Eyes, but her monster-sister already knew and was on her feet, hooting with excitement. Gray Mama looked over at her daughters and made a chuffing sound, which was her way of laughing.

Red Mama strode up the side of the creek towards her family, uttering another whistle. She was shorter than her mate, Gray Mama, and more slender in build, but the auburn fur that covered her body was thicker and longer. Her belly was swollen and protruding, which meant that the baby inside her would be born soon. 

“Maybe she’ll have a little boy, and when he’s old enough, he can play with Ben,” Carly thought as she ran with Green Eyes to greet Red Mama and be swept up in her long arms. Red Mama started to chuff-laugh, too, and nuzzled both girls.

“Don’t squash… baby. Or berries,” Red Mama told the girls, first in her own tongue and then in the few English words she knew, as she laid down the handfuls of wild blackberries she had been carrying to hug the girls. Red Mama was very curious about humans, and had picked up a little of several languages. Gray Mama was very different; she loved human children, but she preferred to stay far away from the grown-ups if she could help it.

Gray Mama pulled Ben out of the water, calmly ignoring his squirming and protests as she dried him off with his cloak and tied his loincloth back on. Picking Ben up, she sauntered over to where Red Mama and the girls were waiting for her.

Everyone sat in a circle, while Gray Mama divided up the pile of luscious berries, giving a share to each member of the family as was her right to do.

“Because Gray Mama’s the boss,” Carly told Ben, who ignored her because his full attention was on the fruit. His little hands and mouth were stained with berry juice, and he was probably going to need another wash in the creek before the family headed home.

Gray Mama wouldn’t let the children eat all the berries. She made them leave a portion behind, which she placed on an old, gnarled stump. Carly knew that they were for the Big Man, and trembled a little, for the Big Man was much larger than Gray Mama and Red Mama. Quiet and mysterious, he moved through the woods like a shadow and all the creatures of the woodland fell silent when he was around. None of those animals would dare approach the gifting stump, either, because even they knew that whatever was left there was for him.

Red Mama had assured Carly and Ben that the Big Man would never hurt any of them, for he was the father of both Green Eyes and the baby growing inside Red Mama, and he too knew that Gray Mama was the boss and respected her authority. But he still made Carly a little nervous, because she had never seen anybody quite so big and strong. 

As the late afternoon sun began to dip a little in the sky, Gray Mama led all of them back to the cave where the children would sleep. They would all get up later, when the moon had risen, for the friendly monsters liked to be active at night. Carly felt a little tingle of excitement; perhaps Gray Mama would allow them to watch her hunt!

Green Eyes helped Carly and Ben to make a nest of leaves for all three children once they all arrived at the cave, while Gray Mama and Red Mama made a larger one for themselves. Snuggled up against her brother and sister, Carly soon fell asleep, feeling safe and warm.

It was dark when Carly awoke, but the safe feeling was gone.

Someone was walking around outside the cave, and she could hear voices, human voices that made her sit bolt upright and choke back a scream.

“This is where the tracks led, I’m sure of it,” a man said, his voice sounding excited. “And there’s no way they belonged to a bear!”

“Yeah. Those toes looked human,” another man replied, and then a light was shining into the cave, making Carly blink and squeeze her eyes shut. Ben began to whimper, and Green Eyes put her hand over his mouth as Gray Mama and Red Mama let out low, rumbling growls.

“Can you see anything?” asked the first man.

“Not yet – but something’s in there, all right. Can you hear it? Get the gun ready – I’m going in to have a look!”

“Are you sure you wanna…” the first man began, but the second one cut him off.

“They’re just animals. If it tries anything, start shooting. Whether this thing’s dead or alive, we’re gonna be famous once we prove that Bigfoot exists. Now come on!”

“I’m not going to let them take Ben and me back out there,” Carly thought, and crawling on all fours, she scooted over to where a pile of stones sat near the mouth of the cave. She positioned herself flat against the wall, and threw a handful of the small rocks towards the source of the light. Green Eyes joined her seconds later, and soon both of them were hurling stones as Gray Mama and Red Mama let loose with blood-curdling screams of rage.

One of the men yelled, saying some words that Carly knew were very bad, and the other one started shouting, “Shoot it! Shoot it!”

“I dropped the gun – I can’t find it!” his companion yelled back, just as a terrifying roar echoed through the forest, and something that sounded louder than a freight train came charging through the brush.

“Run!” one of the men shouted, and Carly could hear them fleeing through the woods as the Big Man’s footsteps pounded behind them, not fast enough to catch them, but fast enough to chase them far away. Shrieks were heard from time to time as the men sped out of the forest, and Carly knew that the Big Man was throwing larger rocks in the intruders’ direction.

As the sounds started to fade, Carly began to breathe a little easier. Gray Mama came forward, holding little Ben in her arms, and Red Mama was by her side, sniffing the air.

A strong smell, almost like a wet dog, wafted on the breeze towards them, and Carly could make out a towering figure standing outside the cave. Despite her nerves, Carly couldn’t stop herself from moving closer to the giant until she was standing in front of him.

The moon was full and high above them, illuminating the Big Man’s massive form. He looked down at Carly, and his eyes had a strange orange glow to them in the darkness, but the expression on his hairy face was a kind one.

“Thank you,” Carly whispered, and one huge hand brushed a wisp of hair out of Carly’s face with the gentlest of touches. The Big Man looked over at the handful of stones that Carly hadn’t realized she was still hanging on to, and the corners of his eyes crinkled as he gave Carly a toothy smile.

“Brave, like mothers,” the Big Man said, and his deep voice reverberated in Carly’s chest and through the warm summer air.


End file.
